"I do. And I told him to watch his back. Stubborn lion thought he had it all under control."
"This is all my fault. If I hadn't come back here, none of this would be happening," she said, wrapping her arms around herself.
"Chances are he would have found someone else to obsess over. It's not your fault."
"But Yaeger wouldn't be lying there fighting for his life if not for me. If I'd never come back here, we wouldn't have met, and he wouldn't have been attacked."
"That still doesn't make this your fault. The only one to blame is the fucker who attacked him."
"Yin?" an unfamiliar male voice called out.
"In the bedroom on the left, brother," Yin replied.
In walked a man carrying a bag. She assumed it was Lucas.
"Let me see what I've got to work with. Son of a bitch! You weren't kidding when you said it was bad."
They moved out of the way to let him work. First, he cut Yaeger's ruined shirt off of him and tossed it aside. Then he started cleaning up the blood. "I'm going to have to stitch him closed. Some of these are going to leave a scar," Lucas said as he worked. "His arm is the worst. It looks like the bastard used it for a chew toy."
Frankie watched him, arms wrapped around herself. She wanted to go to Yaeger, wanted to be at his side, but she knew she'd only be in the way.
After what felt like hours, Lucas was finally done. "He'll sleep for quite a while. His body needs the rest to heal. Keep him warm but keep watch for signs of infection. Fever and chills, and call me at the first sign," he told her, giving her his number.
"I will. Thank you so much for your help."
"We take care of our own," Lucas told her.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to reach out," Yin told her as he headed to the door after giving her his number as well.
"Yin? What were you doing here, anyway?" she asked curiously.
"I was dropping off a load of firewood. I'll do that before I leave. I mean it, Frankie. Call if you need anything."
"I will."
She waited until he left and then leaned against the door. She almost lost her mate today. If she hadn't come by, would Yin have found him? Or would he have just assumed Yaeger was on a run, dropped off the wood, and gone about his business?
A sob escaped her, and she slid down to the floor. She pulled her knees to her chest and cried for several minutes. When her tears subsided, she realized she had dried blood on her hands. She got up, went to the bathroom, and scrubbed until her hands were raw. Then she went to the kitchen and put the contents of the picnic basket in the fridge so it wouldn't spoil. With nothing left to do, she went into the bedroom, crawled into bed, and laid down next to Yaeger. It was going to be a long night.
She was dozing when she felt him moving around and was instantly awake. "Easy, don't move around too much. You'll tear your stitches," she said gently.
"It's freezing in here. Aren't you cold?" he mumbled.
"No, it's comfortable to me." She put her hand on his forehead. "Shit, you're burning up. Hold on, I have to call Lucas." She tucked the blanket around him and grabbed her phone, dialing Lucas' number.
The polar bear shifter answered on the fourth ring. "Hello?" he said sleepily.
"Hello, Lucas, it's Frankie. I'm sorry to wake you but you said to call if there was a problem. Yaeger's burning up."
"I was afraid of that happening. I'll be right there. Don't worry about waking me. You did the right thing, Frankie."
They hung up, and she went out to the living room to wait for him to arrive. Ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door. "Thank you for coming so quickly," she said when she answered it.
"It's going to be okay. I half expected this. I have strong antibiotics that will knock out the infection in no time. He's going to be okay, Frankie. I promise."
They returned to the bedroom where Yaeger lay shivering. "So cold," he mumbled.
"I know, brother. I'm going to fix you up with an antibiotic that'll knock that fever right out of you," Lucas said, taking out a bottle and a syringe. He filled the syringe, then plunged it into Yaeger's vein. "I might as well check his injuries while I'm here," he said.
